Parental responses to youths' reports of teen dating violence: Recommendations from parents and youth

Feasibility and Acceptability of Engaging Significant Adults in Youth Sexual and Relationship Violence Prevention Work

Relationship and sexual violence (RSV) disproportionately affect youth in immigrant and other marginalized communities yet few prevention initiatives are truly grounded in their experiences. The current study represents a pilot implementation evaluation of youth-led workshops to engage significant adults (parents, grandparents, aunts, adult siblings, community leaders) as RSV prevention partners in diverse communities in a large urban area. The current mixed methods evaluation examined the perceptions of 66 adults and six youth leaders of four, day-long adult training workshops. Results showed high feasibility and acceptability and an important role for significant adults in enhancing RSV prevention.

Effect of Victimization and Perceived Support on Maintenance of Dating Relationships Among College Students in Guadalajara, Mexico

This study analyzes the influence of the victimization suffered (sexual, physical, coercion, humiliation, and emotional punishment) and the support network available (as Independent Variables (IIVV)) on the trajectory of young couples (feeling trapped in a relationship, Dependent Variable (DV)). A total of 990 Mexican university students (M = 19.5, SD = 1.82 years) of both sexes (66% women) participated in the study. Family and friends were perceived as providing the greatest support (in over 85% of respondents), while the resources provided by the university (teachers, central resources) were regarded as unhelpful by 40%. A linear regression analysis showed that the feeling of being trapped in the relationship was influenced by all the IIVV (*p < .05), although perceived support proved to be a poor predictor (beta = -.053). A path analysis reflected a negative effect of coercion (regression weight = -.533) and physical violence (-.926) on perceived support, with all forms of victimization being precursors for feeling trapped in a relationship. These results show the negative effect of victimization on expectations of support in young people, which may make it difficult to begin the process of seeking help. They also highlight the need to increase the visibility of resources available in educational settings to provide an early response to intimate partner violence.

Who, When, How, and Why Bystanders Intervene in Physical and Psychological Teen Dating Violence

Teen dating violence victimization is associated with a host of adverse mental and physical health problems. A number of bystander-focused interventions have been developed to mitigate the occurrence of abuse but with varying effectiveness. There remains a need to understand more about bystander behaviors used by adolescents to ensure that existing intervention components match with bystanders' attitudes and behaviors about intervening. The current study is a scoping review of existing literature on adolescents' use of bystander behaviors to determine who, when, how, and why adolescents intervene. Seventeen articles met inclusion criteria, the majority of which used qualitative or observational survey designs. Adolescents who either feel a sense of responsibility and confidence to intervene or are directly involved with or know the individuals involved in the dating violence are more likely to intervene. Adolescents intervene when they are able to define an act as dating violence and tend to intervene when the victim is female and when they have a supportive relationship with at least one teacher in their school. The various ways how bystander intervention is engaged in ranges from verbally or physically confronting the abuser, distracting the abuser, seeking support from an adult, to passively accepting the abuse. Reasons why adolescents intervene include believing the abuse is wrong and that intervening will diffuse the situation and help the victim. A number of barriers to bystander intervention emerged from analysis including individual attitudes and school climate factors. Implications for strengthening bystander intervention programs are discussed.